Motivation to lose weight

[Anne Bonny]

It comes from wanting to look better and more feminine in a dress.

[Emma-A]

I think this is a difficult one to crack. Because when a gm loses weight, it typically disappears from the legs. hips and bum quicker than it does from the belly region. So by losing weight you could actually end up looking more masculine, which is perhaps not what we want. This happens especially when using diet alone. I've found that a combination of eating well (including occasional junk food!) combined with regular cardiovascular exercise (cycling works for me) is the only way to lose body fat in a proportional way.

If for any reason one can only do the dieting, but not the exercise, then the only way I can see to maintain a feminine figure would be to take hormones - otherwise one might end upwith skinny legs and still have a fat tummy.

I'm hoping some of the other members might have a better solution though...

luv
Em

[Ralitsa]

yes, looking nice in that slinky dress is the best reason there is

well I don't need to lose much weight, and actually if I could just move it from the belly to the b**bs I'd be thrilled

but I think emma is right, when one is slightly overweight the body shape is less distinguishable between the genders. so maybe it does require hormones, but I'm not quite ready to go there.

[DonnaT]

It should be a good motivator. And I'm sure well intended. But doesn't seem to work for me.

Now, when my daughter was planning her wedding, that was a motivator, and I lost 70 lbs. Too bad much of it came back. And now, with the ankle surgery, I can't even work out, much less get to the gym.

[Melissa Cross]

Looking better in female clothes is a huge motivation for me to lose weight. I'm lucky that when I lose weight I lose t in the stomach and my waistline goes down. I think my legs also look better when I'm thinner. Yup....I would say that is my biggest motivation!

Melissa

[Anne Bonny]

Well...I am walking along our bay about 2.5 miles, jogging some, but with wind and cool weather prefer walking unless there is no wind or not much and it is a sunny day out. And I have also given up snacking. Breakfast and lunch are easy to me, I even feel hunger especially after walking. Try to eat a sensible dinner - but then I undo everything by snacking as the darkness falls upon me - Ah-OOooOh! as in wolf howl. But I do not like feeling tight clothing at the gut - also a motivator. Will just have to keep working at it. I need a haircut it is way past due, yet know when I let it get over my ears I tend to lose the desire because it is not in vogue for men to sport such longer hair at least around where I live so I tend to give up and go get it cut. Would love to try to have it long and in a feminine style at a salon ah....oh well. I do know many sophisticated men, tend to be movie types or just renigades yeah, but not sure what people would think of me with a pony tail at 55! Probably that I am a vietnam vet - they are 10 years older. It just doesn't fit around here. I let what I think others think keep me from doing anything and everything sometimes - choosing to restrict my life. That is a mental issue.

[Caith]

I've got a pony tail at 54. You can, too.

[Anne Bonny]

I am worried because I was not allowed to ever have long hair growing up, then in a military career - of course had to be within regulations. I had thought retirement would bring more freedom but here I am in a conservative denomination, and with neighbors, family....We are never really free unless we let ourselves out of our cage. I have not gone to the barber for about a month and the hair is bushy, think I will test my limits and skip the barber a while longer. We'll see. Plenty of men do sport long hair....
Oh I have lost from 209-205.5 a slight improvement, I do feel more motivated because of my feminine desires to be thin and healthier.

[DonnaT]

Congrats Anne.

[April Rose]

A month? I routinely get a haircut every six months. Trust me. If you are over fifty, you are invisible. It doesn't matter what you do sartorially. They're not checking you out.

[Leeza]

What is a haircut?

I decided to get a hair cut a while back but haven't done it yet as I can't figure out which one to cut.

[Anne Bonny]

Ho-HO I remember a high school teacher who made that very joke stating I go to get a hairs cut, doesn't make any sense to get a single hair cut!

I am just glad I have all my hair, my father and all the men in his family were bald on top by the time they were in their 30's! Got may mother's gene haha! yea!

Sartorially speaking then? Ah me they would notice the frock! But I am not so old as to have lost my appeal to women who are my age I think? I'm listening to Loreena Mckinnett forgive me Beautiful - To Drive the Cold Winter Away wonderful Christmas music! But you know...Men do not like to stick out by making drastic changes, though I have openly died my hair with Just for men and did not mind telling people about it, now I just use Grecian Formula. I was not allowed long hair growing up in a military family, then I spent twenty years in the military, I did have bushy hair at the University of Texas in the late 70's but it was not below my ears, and is not there now either.yet.

[Paula G]

My hair is always over my ears, often longer, I found that if I want it t look reasonable, rather than just shaggy and unkempt, I still need to have a regular hair cut, it just a question of how much to cut off. I go to a salon about every 6 - 8 weeks, they claim to be unisex but I suspect I am their only regular "male" customer (it is very "pink") and I mostly go girly

[JoAnnDallas]

In my case I was starting to move up a dress size and no way was I going to replace all the clothes I have. So it was time to diet and get back down to my normal dress size.

[SharonRose]

I agree with JoAnn. Not having to replace my two wardrobes (male and female) is a big motivation for keeping my weight stable.

I agree that males tend to lose the belly fat last, but we can pad our hips, bust and buttocks without hormones. I am not concerned with my legs becoming too skinny.

I do lots of cardio. Keeping a diary/recording calories consumed and burned helps too. There are lots of apps and Websites for that.